April 21, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



603 



tions. A perfect list of his contributions 

 to chemistry has not, I think, been pre- 

 pared ; but it would be by no means a short 

 one. No brilliant or startling discovery 

 fell to his lot, but then few chemists are so 

 favored. A large volume of good work, 

 well done, is all that most men can aspire 

 to, and in that respect Dr. Prescott's repu- 

 tation is secure. Those who knew him 

 will think most of the man himself, rather 

 than of his achievements. He was kindly, 

 modest, sincere and lovable ; and what bet- 

 ter can be said of any one? 



Dr. Prescott Avas married to Abigail 

 Freeburn in 1866. His widow and one 

 son survive him. 



F. W. Clarke. 



THE USE OF COPPER IN THE PURIFICA- 

 TION OF WATER SUPPLIES.* 



Dr. George T. Moore, physiologist and 

 algologist. Bureau of Plant Industry, said: 

 Probably the best way in which to present 

 the question of the use of copper salts in 

 the purification of water supplies, is to give 

 briefly a history of the subject, outlining 

 in a general way how the method came- to 

 be used, and some of the results obtained 

 by the Department of Agriculture. It may 

 seem a little out of the province of this 

 department to experiment upon the puri- 

 fication of water; but, as you know, the 

 present Secretary of Agriculture is so ready 

 to take up anything new that promises 

 profitable results along any line not already 

 occupied, that he was very glad and willing 

 to allow an investigation to be undertaken 

 which promised to afford relief to so many. 

 Consequently, with the consent of Congress 

 and with the very able cooperation of Dr. 

 Galloway and Mr. Woods, of the Bureau of 

 Plant Industry, this particular investiga- 

 tion Avas undertaken in the Laboratory of 

 Plant Physiology. Those of you who have 



* Report of meeting held January 5, by the 

 Washington Academy of Sciences. 



had any experience with attempting to 

 drink water where it has the so-called pig- 

 pen or fishy taste will readily recognize the 

 importance of finding some means of pre- 

 venting this disagreeable condition. New 

 England is probably the most notorious re- 

 gion for having this fishy odor and taste in 

 its water supplies, but this difficulty is by 

 no means confined to any particular part 

 of the country. There is practically no 

 state in the union which has not reported 

 the greatest trouble due to the plants pro- 

 ducing bad odors and tastes in water, for 

 in almost all cases it is the growth of cer- 

 tain aquatic plants called algte which is 

 responsible for the difficulty. 



I will not try to give you a list of the 

 towns and cities in the United States which, 

 because of the presence of these plants, 

 have had most serious times with their 

 water reservoirs. The importance of the 

 subject is so great that at least one water 

 commission considered it worth $4,000,000 

 to take precautions against the appearance 

 of algfB in their reservoir, and in many in- 

 stances hundreds of thousands of dollars 

 have been expended in a vain attempt to 

 prevent the bad odors and tastes which 

 have occurred annually. 



It so happens that in my mail to-day 

 there came a letter from a town, the name 

 of which I will not mention, which perhaps 

 describes the general situation incident to 

 having a water polluted by these vegetable 

 growths, as well as a long discussion. 



The reservoir of T is (to put it in plain 



Anglo-Saxon) fierce. We are able to drink it 

 only in the winter and early spring. During the 

 summer and fall of the year it is so foul that it 

 can not be used even to wash clothes. Never in 

 all ray experience in various towns and cities have 

 I found such water, and yet physicians have 

 analyzed it and found it all right. In the sum- 

 mer it is yellowish in color and the odor is rank, 

 being perceived at once on opening the faucet. 



There are many similar communities 

 where the water, during the summer 



